Anarchism 
Dr. Christopher S. Rice
“I must tell you first of all what 
anarchism is not. It is not bombs, 
disorder, or chaos. It is not robbery or 
murder. It is not a war of each against 
all. It is not a return to barbarism or to 
the wild state of man. Anarchism is the 
very opposite of all that.” 
– Alexander Berkman, American anarchist, 
1929
Anarchism 
The philosophy of a new social 
order based on liberty 
unrestricted by man-made law; 
the theory that all forms of 
government rest on violence 
and are therefore wrong and 
harmful, as well as unnecessary.
Enragés
Order is the genus: 
Government is the species
anarchos
Anarchism is not as systematic an 
ideology as liberalism or Marxism
Liberty 
Equality 
Solidarity
Liberalism 
Anarchism 
Marxism
freedom and equality are 
complementary, not 
contradictory
Progress & History 
(Dualistic)
HOPE, not certainty
A little of column A, 
A little of column B
What is the individual’s 
role in society?
The individual is the basic unit 
of society…
…but full humanity can only be 
achieved by membership in a 
community/ society.
Individual-in-Community
Human Nature
basic impulses
“Kill the social sense in man – and 
you get a savage orangutan; kill 
egoism in him and he will become a 
tame monkey.” 
- Alexander Herzen
Self-interested impulse to subdue 
others for individual purposes
An impulse to help others 
(Mutual Aid)
Human Malleability
HOPE
Anarchism & 
The State
“Of all the things which interfere 
with the free activity of the 
individual, which reduce liberty 
and compel us to act in ways 
different from those we would 
choose, the most powerful and 
pervasive is the state.” (Jennings)
The essential function of the 
state is to maintain the existing 
inequalities in society…
Private Property
Godwin: each article of property 
ought to belong to the individual 
whose possession of it would yield 
the greatest good for the greatest 
number; thus, property should be 
distributed according to claims of 
need.
“Property is Theft” 
(Proudhon)
“The only demand that property 
recognizes is its own gluttonous 
appetite for greater wealth, 
because wealth means power; 
the power to subdue, to crush, 
to exploit, the power to enslave, 
to outrage, to degrade.” 
- Emma Goldman
Democracy (?)
Decision-making by 
Consensus
The Problem of 
Conventional Institutions
What do 
Anarchists 
wish to achieve?
The highest level of individual 
freedom possible for the 
individual, the fulfillment of each 
individual’s full human potential, 
while at the same time 
developing human society to the 
highest degree possible.
Anarchism “seeks the complete 
development of individuality 
combined with the highest 
development of voluntary 
association in all respects, in all 
possible degrees for all imaginable 
ends.” 
~Kropotkin
A few goals… 
• Overthrow of the State 
• End of private property 
• The end of “democracy” 
• The end of repressive social 
structures and values ( 
“transvaluation” of human values) 
• Full and rewarding work and 
leisure
4 Approaches to Anarchism 
• Armed and Violent Revolution
4 Approaches to Anarchism 
• Armed and Violent Revolution 
• Civil Disobedience
4 Approaches to Anarchism 
• Armed and Violent Revolution 
• Civil Disobedience 
• Propaganda by the Deed
4 Approaches to Anarchism 
• Armed and Violent Revolution 
• Civil Disobedience 
• Propaganda by the Deed 
• Transvaluation

PS 240 Anarchism Fall 2014 (online)